Yang Guang still clearly remembers that when he left Beijing for the first time in the first year of the emperor's reign and went out of the town and merged with the state, his mother Dugu Jialuo once gave her the 8 million yuan given to her by her father to buy makeup and wraps, and soon after he arrived in Bingzhou, he adopted An Ruoxi's suggestion and used the 8 million money to recruit and equip 30,000 new troops.

As far as he knows, there are at most more than 1,000 monks and nuns in the temple, and the believers who come to the temple every year to pay homage to the Buddha will never spend so much money.

In this regard, Qian Wuliang relied on his many years of experience as a bookkeeper to give an explanation: some people inside and outside the temple colluded with each other to embezzle money in the temple by falsely listing expenses and falsely reporting accounts.

But then another doubt arose: if according to the daily party expenses that the imperial court gave to Wanshanni Temple every year, even if you count the donations that the temple receives from believers and pilgrims every year, the sum of the two is only a drop in the bucket compared with the annual cost of up to two or three million yuan. Where did the temple get such a huge amount of money to support the large amount of money it spends every year?

"Lord Wang, isn't there hundreds of concubines and wives of the previous dynasty in the Wanshanni Temple? Could it be that they donate a lot of money to the temple every year? Zhang Heng reminded Yang Guangdao.

"It is still possible to say that each of these people takes the initiative to donate a consistent and two times a year to the temple, but if they are asked to donate 100 or even more per year, is it possible?" Although Yang Guang also thought that these noble ladies of the former dynasty who were ordained and practiced in Wanshanni Monastery might be an important source of wealth in the temple, he did not believe that they could donate such a huge amount of money.

"If it wasn't them who took the initiative, but were forced by others to donate a considerable amount of money to keep them safe, does the prince think this is possible?" Zhang Heng still refused to give up his initial speculation and continued to advise Yang Guang.

"Jianping, are you saying that someone forced the former noblewomen of the former dynasty who became monks and practiced in Wanshanni Temple to donate a considerable amount of money every year to buy peace, and then take possession of the huge amount of money through the channel of Pang Xun?" Yang Guang glared at Zhang Heng, and his breathing became rapid.

"I can't rule out this possibility, my lord." Zhang Heng nodded at Yang Guang.

But if that were the case, who would this man be? He must have enough status and power to force hundreds of former noblewomen into submission, and he must beware of any of them denouncing him to the court. Even if the three of them join forces, I'm afraid it's impossible to do this. Yang Guang immediately shook his head and questioned Zhang Heng's almost unreasonable speculation.

Zhang Heng's eyes flickered, and he changed the topic: "Let's not find out where the huge annual expenses in the temple come from, Lord Wang, who do you think will use so much money?" ”

Yes, even if you count the hundreds of subordinates in the East Palace, you won't need so much money! Yang Guang followed Zhang Heng's reminder to continue thinking, and a terrible thought suddenly appeared in his mind: Prince, yes, except for his eldest brother, Yang Yong, the crown prince of the dynasty, who can force hundreds of noblewomen of the previous dynasty to have to donate an astonishing amount of money to the temple, and who can use so much money?

Thinking that the crown prince Yang Yong might be the initiator and mastermind behind all this, Yang Guangdeng's forehead sweated: Today in the Linde Palace, the father also sternly warned himself not to let his brother fall on the wall, and handed over Pang Xun to the eldest brother as soon as possible to dispose of.

As soon as he thought of this, Yang Guang instinctively had the idea of retreating, wanting to stop it and stop investigating this major corruption case.

Zhang Heng's thoughts in his heart were different from Yang Guang's, seeing that at this point, Yang Guang sat there sullenly, his face changed color, his forehead was sweating, he had guessed a few points about Yang Guang's thoughts, so he ordered Qian Wuliang to retreat first, and then Zhengse suggested to Yang Guang: "If the prince thinks that this case is serious and involves a wide range of people, it is difficult to continue to investigate this case by himself, so he might as well report the progress of the case to the emperor as soon as possible, and leave it to the emperor to decide whether to investigate or not." However, you must not make your own decisions and give up halfway, which will only be more unfavorable to the prince. ”

Yang Guang raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead, smiled bitterly, and replied: "I didn't expect that this account book cracked by Qian Wuliang would put me in a dilemma. Even, as you said, to inform my father of the progress of the investigation, what should I do? When the case is revealed, it will still be inevitable to ......"

What he wanted to say was that he still inevitably had to blame his eldest brother Yang Yong, but when the words came to his lips, he suddenly realized that it was not appropriate to explain the words to Zhang Heng, so he stopped talking about it.

"If the prince doesn't say it, the lower officials also understand what you mean." Zhang Heng stood up with his clothes, bowed to Yang Guang, and said solemnly, "Since Jianping is destined to follow the prince, he should be loyal and wise, and assist the prince to achieve a great cause." At present, this case seems to have nothing to do with the major politics of the imperial court, but it is not. Since the opening of the Sui Dynasty, there have been many rebellions caused by the former emperors and former ministers, and the root cause of this is probably very related to the inability of those in power in the court to treat them well, in addition to their own reasons. If the prince knows that the hundreds of noblewomen of the former dynasty of Wanshanni Temple have been oppressed for a long time and cannot administer justice for them, if this goes on for a long time, it will definitely greatly hinder the security of the capital and even the stability of the court. Moreover, the prince is entrusted by the emperor and entrusted with the important task of Gyeonggi, if he cannot uphold the public heart and sincerely repay the emperor, it will inevitably cause the emperor to be dissatisfied with the prince. Therefore, the progress of the investigation has reached this point, retreating is like facing the abyss, and if you advance, you can repay the grace of heaven, and you can appease the people. ”

"Most of what I have discovered so far is just speculation on your part, and the truth of the matter may not be as you and I imagined." Yang Guang deliberately concealed his panic and uneasiness in front of Zhang Heng, and said perfunctorily, "Today, my father has clearly asked me to transfer this case to the prince himself when the prince returns to Beijing in the near future. According to me, you don't need to worry about this case anymore, it is better to concentrate your energy on assisting me in investigating the case of Gao De's Shangshu, or Nanchen Guanzi, as soon as possible, so as to clear up the internal troubles for the imperial court to raise troops to attack Chen. ”

Zhang Heng took a long breath, feeling sorry for Yang Guang for easily letting go of a great opportunity to seize the throne, but after hearing Yang Guang mention that the emperor had made a clear statement today, he wanted Yang Guang to hand over Pang Xun's case to the crown prince Yang Yong for disposal, and if he wanted to fight again, it would be useless, so he said to Yang Guang: "Hearing the prince say this, it was the official who lost his word, and please don't blame the prince." If it comes to the case of Nanchen Guan Zizai, although the lower officials did not get the permission of the prince and participated in it, but since he was ordered by the king to return to Beijing to find Zhang Xutuo's whereabouts, he has also learned some details, I don't know if the prince has thought about it, the tens of millions of money in Wanshanni Temple are in and out, and the three monks and nuns in the temple probably won't be ignorant of this, right? ”